Look at the leveling guidelines of every major tech company. You don’t get promoted based on “knowing more”. You get promoted based on your ability to handle a larger scope of work, your “impact” and “dealing with ambiguity”. Different companies state it differently. But it all boils down to this.

As far as knowing more, the best way to get promotions raises and job opportunities is via networking, the ability to market yourself inside and outside of the company and soft skills.

Well the best way to make more money is to work for companies that pay more money - ie BigTech and adjacent [1] - and then learn the politics of promotions.

[1] Yes “grind leetCode and work for a FAANG” (tm r/cscareerquestions)

You can be curious and learn without gifting your energy to an uncaring entity